loss of members

[Paladin3]

I love dreamers 

As a bit of a realist, unless there are some big changes in game play (some Im sure I wont like) this game is going to wallow along only for a short time after the AH3 update.

You post that like your proud of that number. Just a couple of weeks ago there were over 300 on a Saturday night.

Pretty graphics may bring in new players IF they run the ads MAX is so optimistic about, but what is there that is going to entice them to stay?

Bullys sending PMs?
Large learning curve so that they can barely compete?
Runners and bailers who enjoy AVOIDING combat?
Lack of radar for hours on end?
Huge maps to spread out fronts?
Puffy ack that can kill a maneuvering fighter but cant hit a SET of buffs.
Being part of a horde or dying to one is your main choice of flights?

I haven't been able to spend a lot of time in the Beta tho I do load each update and check to see if the basics work on my computer (updates, loads, starts, roll a plane or two check FR ) but the biggest thing I see right now is the update points to tanking more than anything else. Of course your cant make "air" look all that much better. I just hope it doesn't turn into Aces Low with any new player that come in.

Im sure the VR support HTC is adding will be a big seller with some people, but is that market all that big to support all the time involved in adding and tweaking it? How long has this delayed the release of AH3?

Lots of questions but very few answers. A nice "round table" setup with HTC would be cool for getting answers, but this would delay the release more  Ah well, all we can do is to continue to support HTC by paying our subscriptions and hope for the best.

THIS right here says a lot of what I have been thinking. I used to love this game. I remember a great time when Fuzz24 PMed me after Magoo and I nailed him and two others. "Man I knew I was in trouble when I saw you guys in formation and then you dropped your tanks together." He came Rook and was a Fourthman for awhile before life pulled him away.

Now... I just get frustrated when I log in. I am honestly about to go as well. Not sure my machine will run the new update, not sure I want to spend 15 bucks which is honestly a lot for me right now. A community that is nasty to each other drives me away. I came back because of pals I knew on here for years. A pal like HEELER who was a contrary old man, yes. But that man called me at least once a month while I was off the game in grad school... When I was going through some of the darker moments of my civilian life... And honestly I thought of him mostly when I came back.

Now people are like tough crap you don't like things then leave. Folks, at some point HT has to pull the plug - think about the money he does NOT get anymore after going from x to y number of subscribers. We can fix some of that just by not being jerks to each other.

Today I logged in and a member PMed me to tell me about honest to God harassment. Like USC type harassment. now that I look at that I realize I am in professor mode, sorry - federal law as in clinky clink with some anti-bullying laws that are being considered and interesting ways prosecutors are using some old stuff. We don't need that sort of crap, it drives folks off.

Police your community. Be helpful to new folks. Even the *cringe* squeekers that talk to much. We have one right now that sometimes I want to throat punch, but I have yet to say anything to him. He's learning. We all did, and for those of us that were taken under someone's wing like Zip and then mostly HEELER did for me.

[Estes]

let's not forget that dayz also charged for the early access alpha and it's still sitting there for (i'd have to get on steam to be precise), but as long if not longer than the AH Beta. The ironic thing is, there is way more people still playing that than there has ever been the beta here. 

[JunkyII]

let's not forget that dayz also charged for the early access alpha and it's still sitting there for (i'd have to get on steam to be precise), but as long if not longer than the AH Beta. The ironic thing is, there is way more people still playing that than there has ever been the beta here. 

H1Z1 has thousands playing it.....still in Beta

[Zoney]

nevermind 

Edited because for just a moment I forgot what I truly believe in, shown in my signature.

[Lusche]

*snip*

tralala

[Zoney]

Thank you.

[Lusche]

Now edit the last one too and all will be fine again

[shotgunneeley]

You know, I looked into Battleground Europe last year for the first time. During my first couple of weeks reviewing it, I would visit the forums to try and learn stuff. I saw these kinds of posts and it was a major turnoff to even try the game. It is one thing to post wishes and constructive criticism, but all of this negative talk about low numbers and poor game play quality sure doesn't go towards drawing a crowd imho. While it certainly looked interesting, I didn't give it much of a chance with one of the reasons being the energy sucking atmosphere of the community.

I feel like getting up some real missions to jump start battles would go a long way. I know I'm one to talk because I am not one to have a plan. This is a game very much run by leaders in the community and it will take more to step up in order to It is going to take more to step up and foster a competitve spirit to be attractive to new players.

[save]

WW2online have a very good ground war, the air-war is not up to AH, but again the ground war is much better than Aces High in my opinion.

Ground troops, towed guns better tank simulator, and a command structure AH currently missing in arenas.

And ww2ionline have the best icon system n any game i've seen.

[Changeup]

AH3 is being held up for inclusion-coding of a VR device?

Holy hell.  Again, why am I not shocked.  Most people cant afford to upgrade their computers much less add a VR device.

[The Fugitive]

This is turning into "Combat Tour" all over again. Combat tour was an ambitious idea but the coading was taking a very long time due to the small number of coaders working on it. It was eventually shelved and update to the game begain again.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,250755.msg3086244.html#msg3086244

HTC has been working on AH3 for some time now. Here is the water update for AH3 release page

http://www.hitechcreations.com/company-info/news/24-sneak-preview/771-water-update

Tho the video is no longer hosted, it shows that the AH3 update has been in the works since early 2014.  While we have no "numbers" of subscribers that AH has, nor do those always reflect how many players play in the mains ( a lot of players only play in FSO, or Scenarios) a dirty check can be made of ranking in tour 170 vs last tour completed. A rank in the "captures field" were there were no captures gives you a number for all of those who placed "last" in captures for that tour. Going by that number there is last than 50% of players getting captures.

So that means either a lot more people are capturing base and so being tied for last is moving up the number, or that the number of people playing has dropped. Going by Lusche recent posting of captures...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,345669.msg5066063.html#msg5066063

I don't think the number is really going up for the number of captures, so that leads me to believe that the numbers of players has dropped by almost half in 2 years. In the year leading up to the "shelving" of Combat tour the numbers stayed the same, but those numbers were 50% higher population than we had at the beginning of AH3 work. We have lost more than 2/3 of the population in the main arenas in the past 8 years.

I'm sure there is a lot more involved as to the "why" we have lost so many players, but I think the lack of HTC presence in the arenas certainly is one of them. I cant picture what this game has become as what Hitech and Pyro thought of as as good game to go into business with.

My CO has decided to cancel his account and move on. It just isn't fun for him any more. Squad nights use to be some mission to start some action that turned into fun for a lot of players from either side of the fight. Now missions turn into either circling a base waiting for the "enemy" to come out of the ack or 88's, an undefended base where NO ONE ups, or a group that does defend but need to start the defense by flying in the stratosphere.

The main idea of the game, fighting/combat has been lost to the new gamers that look at "winning the war" the quickest easiest way possible. Last night prime time US (10PM eastern) there were last than 200 players on line with about a quarter of those sitting in the tower. 40 or so players per team on a large map. Heck those numbers barely make a horde.

One team gets ganged, Rooks were pushing the Bish and they did put up a bit of a defense, but they were also fighting the Knights who were trying to get back all the bases the Bish had NOEd earlier along the shore. Funny how when ever we have a map with water up the Bish seem to own most of the shore line? NOEs are easier to run across water don't cha know 

So of course Bish were crying about how the Rook "horde" was singling them out, and that the Rook/Knight alliance was strong. It was the only fight going. I ran a buff run and not a single player came up after me. Landed 32K in damage with a set of B24s, oh what fun! Fully in dar the whole time.

We are losing players everyday. HTC better do something or they will open AH3 to the last dozen or so of us that will stick it out as we have stuck it out through the years. Sure it will be pretty, but we still wont be able to find a fight.   

[caldera]

it shows that the AH3 update has been in the works since early 2014.

Since August 2013:

[Lusche]

AH3 is being held up for inclusion-coding of a VR device?

Holy hell.  Again, why am I not shocked.  Most people cant afford to upgrade their computers much less add a VR device.

While I lament the long development time as well, I'm convinced this is an absolute necessity. VR is the up and coming thing and here to stay. Prices are insanely high at the moment, but there's still an amazing (IMHO) number of early adopters, especially in the sim community. And prices will drop, no doubt about it. Much better to integrate it now while the engine is still in the coding phase than trying to somehow attach it later.

[Easyscor]

What Lusche said, but we're all anxious for it to go live.

[The Fugitive]

I believe that VR is important as well, however, to the exclusion of the rest of the game? No, not really. They could have pushed AH3 out and added the VR afterwards, or they could spend some time addressing what many believe are issues in the current game. Whether they make adjustments or not, addressing the "issues" publicly could go a ways in helping "keep the peace" as it were WHILE they continue work on AH3.

The seeming "neglect" to the present game just doesn't look good.